Sunderland set to miss out on promotion as League One clubs signal their intent to end the season

Fixtures in the EFL have been suspended since mid-March, with the Black Cats’ last game coming at Bristol Rovers on March 10.

And with clubs yet to return to training, and no firm return date set, the EFL are reportedly set to call time on the League One and League Two campaigns next week – with clubs set to vote for the season to be ended immediately.

EFL chair Rick Parry told a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee this week that the season would have to be completed by July 31 owing to contractual issues, and this is now presenting logistical difficulties.

The EFL had previously laid out plans to finish the season, including the play-offs, in 56 days – but desire is growing among clubs for the campaign to finish.

And a vote is now set to take place next week on how to determine promotion and relegation, with clubs having already submitted a number of proposals.

But according to The Athletic, the favoured method among most clubs is a weighted points-per game solution. This method would see each team’s average points-per-game calculated for their home and away fixtures respectively, then multiplied by 22 to simulate the number of fixtures they would have played in a real campaign.

In League One, this would see the current top three – Coventry City, Rotherham United and Oxford United – promoted.